Playing Aion Classic in 2024: Everything you need to know

When it comes to good old memories and lots of nostalgia, nothing can beat Aion – at least for us, that is. Although we spent years of our lives playing the game, we stopped a few years ago, as many other people also did. It simply wasn’t interesting anymore with the newer versions, until Aion Classic was released, and the European servers saw high traffic and many active players.

I’ve downloaded the Aion Classic because I was curious to see the good old game that we used to love. Although I played only for a month and stopped because of my working schedule, a few weeks ago my two best friends told me they started playing again. And there it was, Aion was back in our lives, and we started playing together for many hours per day.

The game itself has a bigger meaning for us though, as it’s the reason my two best friends met each other and got married – and I was the freaking best man in the wedding. It’s the game that made us get to know each other, have fun, and for a few hours forget all the common problems and issues we humans face every day in our lives.

What is Aion?

From the company that made Lineage and Guild Wars, Aion is an online multiplayer MMORPG developed by NCSoft. The game saw its release date in November 2008 in South Korea, and in September 2009 got launched in North America and Europe. Players would have to choose between two factions; Elyos and Asmodians. The game is set in the world of Atreia, where both factions are facing the same threat, the Balaur, monsters that try to destroy both Elyos and Asmos.

Elyos and Asmos also fight with each other and share many of the maps together. Players create legions and make groups and alliances to fight in sieges and get the Towers. There’s also a “Broker”, from which players can sell specific items for in-game money, known as “Kinah”. It’s both a PVE and PVP game, although leveling up is not enough, as the game has tons of options when it comes to building and improving the characters.

Weekly and daily quests will help you get started and get anything that is needed to make your player stronger, while there are events and arenas to fight and win. Instances with bosses are the main way players can get stronger armor parts, weapons, and accessories that increase their stats, or make enough money by gathering, aethertaping, cooking, and crafting to create scrolls, foods, weapons, and much more that will later sell and make money.

What exactly is Aion Classic?

Let’s say that the folks at NFSOFT learned their lesson after losing a huge base of players in recent years because of the game changes they did with the newer versions of the game. Aion Classic is a return back to the good old days when Aion was simpler and more user-friendly. Although not the same, the Aion Classic comes with lots of different improvements, new features, and lots of changes.

You could say it’s an updated version of the older game with extra additions, including a new class. Currently, the game is in version 3.0, which brought lots of improvements, a new class (Martial Artist and Battle Master), the Mansion of Enlightenment dungeon has been added, and a new instanced dungeon, Unknown Aster and Aster of Reunion, has been also added. You can see all the latest changes and improvements on the official website’s news page.

But that’s on the American servers, which seems to always be ahead of the European servers. When it comes to Europe, we’ve just got the 2.8 update, which saw many players come back, and we also got a new map, called Apheta Beluslan – but I’ll talk about it in a minute.

Does Aion Classic have an active user base?

As of today, Aion Classic has a pretty big and dedicated community of online players, and lots of activity in regions such as Gelkmaros and Insignon. You would be able to find lots of people looking for groups in the LFG section, and there’s a huge number of players in Sieges from both Elyos and Asmodians. I find that the Broker is less crowded than it was when the game initially launched, but you’ll have most of what you’ll need.

If you’re new to Aion Classic, most of the players playing the game have already built their main characters for both PVE and PVP. The lowest-level maps are less crowded, but thankfully leveling up is pretty easy and fast nowadays, although you’ll see lots of new players.

But that’s all about the European server and not the American server. The American server, as many people report on Reddit, it’s kinda dead when it comes to online players, so don’t bother starting a new character there. In the European server, and most specifically in the Atreia server, there are tons of active players at all times. Although the server is less busy in the morning (Athens, Greece ‎(UTC+3)‎), you’ll still find groups in the LFG for daily quests, instances, and even for Dregion.

The biggest cons when playing Aion in 2024

Let’s head over to the no-bullshit department, shall we? The game’s not perfect, not by a long shot, and it still has some of the bugs it had almost a decade ago, which is absurd.

Common bugs and lagging

If you’re an old player, Aion Classic has all the common bugs that you remember, from having your player pulled to the right or left, falling over, getting stuck in stupid places, and all the glitches in the graphics are still there. There’s also a huge problem with lagging when going to Siegies and Bosses with alliances, where you’ll have to press the F12 to disappear the players and have a less laggy experience, yet not a good one either.

As far as I know, Aion will remain the same buggy game it always was. As a player who came back to play the same game he played for years when he was younger, I feel NCSOFT should focus more on fixing those bugs, glitches, and bugs, rather than giving us new events, characters, or what else. The game should be able to run smoothly after all of those years, yet they have failed to make any improvements whatsoever, so I don’t expect they ever will.

Apart from that, you’ll have to enable the “Fixed FPS” option whenever you go to Siegies, as the lag will be too high for you to play – yes, it’s that bad! And no, your CPU and GPU won’t matter how good they are, you’re still going to be lagging like crazy. And don’t get me started with the player’s weapons going underground, making the graphics look even worse.

The Arenas and Dregion aren’t fair

But Aion’s common lagging issues aren’t the biggest problem players will face during the Journey in the world of Atreia. The Arena and Dregion are so unfair, that it makes you wonder how they haven’t managed to improve it as of yet.

Think about going to Arena of Discipline, you know, because you need to get the TAC armor so you can go to BT and other bigger instances, but as a new player, you’ll have to face the biggest players also. For example, if you’re Rank 9, you may get a Star Officer as an opponent, which is as unfair as it sounds.

Players should get an opponent that has similar weapons and armour so they can have a fair fight, and not lose in every single battle because they’re new to the game.

The love and hate with bots

When it comes to bots, Aion has always been a paradise and a great home for them. As of this moment of writing, there are tons of bots on Aion, and you’ll constantly see them in various regions farming and leveling up, and sometimes they may get annoying when you are trying to complete a quest or campaign and bots simply kill the same mobs as you are.

But the thing with bots is that; As you hit level 55, you are going to be searching for them, as they’re easy kills. You’ll have to do that every day, as there are a few daily quests that you’ll have to complete if you ever want to collect enough medals for your PVP weapon and armor. So yeah, they come in handy when it comes to avoiding PVPing before getting better items.

The problem with the learning curve

Last but not least; The Learning Curve. Aion is no joke, it’s a pretty huge game with lots of options and features that take lots of time until you learn.

There are tons of different quests, you’ll have to use specific tactics in most bosses for higher-level instances, learn how to make money, what’s the right order of getting the right armor and weapons, and skills that you’ll have to manually learn (and pay), and so much more.

While there are many tutorials and guides you can find for every quest and campaign online, and learn how to complete every Instance without getting destroyed and taking all of your group to your grave, the game itself lacks the guidance a new player should experience when starting the game.

Aion Classic 2.8 and the biggest issues

Unfortunately, the newest update is an absolute disaster, starting with the new map being so small, that the PVP is almost avoidable. While that’s good news for anyone looking for more PVP through the game, it’s a nightmare for the newest players looking to complete their daily quests.

Beluslan wasn’t even the best option when it came to choosing a map, they could have easily chosen Morheim instead, a map that many users love and it was a great choice for PVE and PVP back in the good old days. To enter Apheta Beluslan, players will also have to pay 50,000 Kinah, which is absurd.

They’ve also removed the chest that gave a random amount of money to players who were finishing the Debilkarium, another disaster for everyone willing to do the full runs in this Instance to get a few bucks and buy what’s necessary for the game. When it comes to good news, they’ve increased the drop rate from the latest boss, which makes it a whole lot easier to get weapons and armor – or sell whatever you don’t need to other players using the LFG.

Aion Classic: Pricing and the Siel’s Energy

If you are serious about playing Aion Classic, you’ll have to pay the monthly Siel’s Energy. Yes, you can play for free, but without access to Broker, without being able to loot, and unable to gather, things aren’t looking that good.

Free users get Siel’s Energy for 1 hour every day, in which they can do whatever a premium user can. If they want it 24/7, they’ll have to buy Daeva Coins using real money, which they can use to get Siel’s Energy for 30 days or more.

With 99 Daeva Coins, you get 3 days of Siel’s Energy. 399 coins will get you 30 days of Siel’s Energy, while 849 coins will get you 90 days of Siel’s Energy, 3x Major Ancient Crown, 5x Platinum Medal, and Tiny Narky Egg (90 days).

To buy Daeva Coins, simply click on the “Aion Shop” icon in the bottom right corner, just above the mini-map.

Once the window pop-up is displayed, click on the “TOP UP DAEVA COINS!” in the top right corner.

You’ll be redirected to Aion’s payment system from which you’ll be able to select one of the offers and proceed to the payment using your credit card, PayPal, Skrill, or Paysafe account (you can also use the ‘Bank transfer’ option).

Go to “Popular Items” and and you’ll find the Siel’s Energy subscriptions. Select the one that you want and simply enable it by paying for it with your coins.

A few seconds later you’ll see your Siel’s Energy without a countdown.

Until I became 55 levels, I didn’t pay for Siel’s Energy, but having 50% less XP is not that pleasant, while some lower-level Instances may drop some pretty good items that you’ll need for a faster level up. For example, if you get to 50 levels, you can enter Taloc, which is a great way to level up faster and get some good drops, such as golden earrings, rings, and belts.

Is Aion Classic really “Classic” and improved?

There’s a big debate when it comes to Aion Classic and how “Classic” it is. After all, the title itself describes exactly what this game should be about, and it’s all going back to the past, to these nostalgic days most players used to love.

I’ve seen many users complaining online about Aion Classic’s current version, which has nothing to do with the old classic version of the game. There’s a new class in the game, and there are instances that have nothing to do with the older versions. It’s also pretty different, the level-up is so much faster now, and regions and instances that used to have lots of players are now ghost towns.

When it comes to improvements, there are a few, but they are not worth talking about when we have the same old same bugs still lying around. Actually, the game itself is so badly written, that it’s unplayable when you’re dealing with too many active players in the same area, and mostly when it comes to Sieges and World Bosses. You can still play it, but if your skills are clickable that means.

Aion Classic is similar to what you remember, yet different in its own way.

Should you play Aion if you have limited time?

The short answer is no. Aion needs lots of time if you really want to go as far as having at least one character well-built with both PVE and PVP weapons and armor. Unfortunately, even getting to a point where you get to play one class that has a full PVE and PVP equipment means that you already spent lots of time.

It’s also a game better played with friends. Yes, you can find a good legion and start with that, connecting and talking to Discord, going all together to Sieges and Instances, but most Legions in Aion are kinda, well, let’s say “toxic”. So finding a good Legion is not an easy task, and don’t get me started on gathering all the necessary medals to get the full PVP set – it seems like a decade of playing.

I wish Aion Classic was cheaper because gathering all those medals to get the PVP weapons and armor is taking so long, none of us has any more (we’re not kids as we used to be, and our time now is both valuable and limited). If they only decreased the number of Medals and Abyss Points, it would have been so much more fun to play.

Kunah broker (Global Auction House)

Before NCSOFT released the Global Auction House, both Elyos and Asmodians had their own Broker from which they could sell or buy different kind of items. With Aion Classic’s new Global Auction House, there’s a Broken that lets all players sell and buy items, but instead of using the classic Kinah in-game money, they’re using Kunah, which players can buy using real money.

With Kunah, Elyos, and Asmodians can sell and buy items between them, and it’s been synchronized with both the Atreia and Tahabata servers. For example, as of this moment of writing, you can buy 1 million Kinah with 58 Kunah, or find items that other players currently sell for as many Kunah as they like.

Players can also get specific items that are only available for specific factions, for example, an Asmodian can get an item that can only be used from Elyos, and they can try to sell it through the Global Auction House.

Best websites with resources for Aion players

There are some websites and tools that have been created specifically for Aion and to make our lives a whole lot easier. From giving us a map marked with the right spots for gathering or aethertaping or Rifts to having a database full of information for every item found in the game, they’re perfect for every beginner.

Here’s a list of the most popular and well-known websites and tools for Aion Live and Aion Classic:

• Official Discord Channel: Aion has its own official Discord page where players can get the latest news and announcements, and chat with the game’s community.
• Aion Codex: This website has everything when it comes to items, item sets, skills, quests, NPCs, recipes, pets, mounts, gathering, titles, and Abyss ranks, and there’s important information and details for each one.
• Zephry.team: The Arenas, Dregion, Tiarkh Testin Lab, all the Sieges, and even the daily quests that have a reset time, are scheduled every day. To make sure you’re always up-to-date and know when everything starts, you can use this website to check the time schedule.
• Maps Project: If you’re going to start gathering or aethertaping at some point, or even looking for all the Rifts in different regions, the Maps Project website will show you the results on the map, making it easier and faster than ever to find anything.
• Classic Interactive Map: This is another website that gives you all the locations on the map if you’re gathering or aethertaping, but it comes with higher-quality maps and ways to customize or even export a map with specific locations marked on it, which is pretty awesome.
• DPS Meter: This is a player-created tool that gives you access to off-game functionalities, such as skill rotations tracking, damage distribution, and performance comparison with other players.

If you have any suggestions that haven’t been included in the list above, don’t hesitate to drop them in the comment section at the end of this page – even if it’s your own project. You can also look at the Discord channels as many players may recommend new tools and websites they found.

Notes

If we updated the article or made any changes, you’ll know that:

Updates

FAQ

If you have any other questions, don’t hesitate to ask them in the comment section below.

Conclusion

Aion Classic is still the good old Aion we used to love, with lots of improvements, new classes, and a dedicated community of players. It’s a game that needs lots of time investment, but it has tons of different things that you can do and lots of Legions to join and have even more fun. It still has the same old bugs and lagging that it had, but if you’re looking for nostalgia, you’re gonna find it.

It’s crazy to think that Aion has been out for over 15 years now. It’s a game that changed many lives over the years, helped us meet some great people, gave us memories, and although now emptier than ever before, it’s still alive.